The Ministry of Cultural Affairs on Thursday announced seven innovative projects aimed at engaging youth and revitalizing Bangladesh's cultural landscape in the wake of the July Revolution. The announcement came during a press conference at the Secretariat, chaired by Cultural Affairs Adviser Mostofa Sarwar Farooki. The seven initiatives, designed to foster creativity and inclusivity, are: 'Remembering Monsoon Revolution,' 'Youth Festival,' 'Countrywide Talent Hunt,' 'Digital Oral History Project,' 'Bangla Academy Creative Writing Workshop and Research Project,' 'Installation of Modern Video Projection System at the National Museum,' and 'Show-Creator Workshops.' Adviser Mostofa Sarwar Farooki emphasized the projects’ significance in promoting cultural unity and diversity. “The establishment of a cultural bridge is crucial after the revolution,” he said. “We want to ensure that Bangladesh represents everyone—many people, many religions, many languages, and all cultures will be at the center of our policy. There will be no space for religious discrimination.” In the written statement of the ministry, it was informed that 'Remembering Monsoon Revolution' will create new enthusiasm and new wave among the youth of Bangladesh. As part of this project, 8 visual content creation workshops will be organized in 8 categories by 8 top Bangladeshi creators, and 8 medium length visual content will be produced as output of the workshop while 8 new theater productions will also be created and staged. An album of Nazrul's songs will be made with youth-favorite local artists of the country and a concert will be organized centrally in Dhaka on the occasion of its release. This concert will be telecast across the country. Besides, the July Revolution-centric photography, paintings and cartoons will be exhibited in the country through major exhibitions, according to the Ministry. A grand 'Youth Festival' will take place from December 30 to February 8 next year, where the Ministry of Cultural Affairs will organize cultural events across the country. As part of the countrywide talent search program, the ministry will organize a countrywide talent search program with the aim of creating a new cultural awakening among Bangladeshi children, adolescents and youth. 'Digital Oral History Project' will include a large-scale digital archiving. Millions of participants in the 'Remembering Monsoon Revolution' will have their involvement history captured by video cameras and compiled, and these videos will be displayed everywhere. For aspiring authors, Bangla Academy will publish books and offer creative writing classes. In addition, 10 one-year research fellowships and funds for fifty research papers will be granted to the aspiring researchers, as part of the 'Bangla Academy Creative Writing Workshop and Research Project'. Besides, it was also revealed that the projection system in the National Museum auditoriums will be modernized to screen international films, documentaries and other visual content along with stage performances throughout the year, and the ‘Show-Creator Workshops’ will be organized for the promising youth of Bangladesh with experienced trainers of internationally renowned OTT platforms. Syed Jamil Ahmed, Director General of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, and Mohammad Azam, Director General of Bangla Academy, joined other ministry officials in presenting these initiatives.  

After getting the clearance for his much-anticipated film ‘Shonibar Bikel’ (Saturday Afternoon) from Bangladesh Film Censor Board on Saturday afternoon, acclaimed filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farooki said that he is thankful but does not want any filmmaker to experience what he had to endure film for the last four years. “I feel relieved to get this news finally after all these years. At the same time, I just want to say that whatever I have gone through for this film - I don’t want any filmmaker to go through those,” Farooki told UNB on Saturday. For the last four years, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki’s 8th directorial film Shonibar Bikel - a Bangladeshi-German-Russian co-production, a political thriller inspired by the 2016 Holey Artisan massacre in Gulshan shot almost entirely in a single take, was stuck and denied the censor certificate from Bangladesh Film Censor Board. It features an ensemble cast of Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Zahid Hasan, Mamunur Rashid, Iresh Zaker, Nader Chowdhury, Gousul Alam Shaon, Indian-Bengali film actor-director Parambrata Chatterjee and Palestinian actor Eyad Hourani in the lead characters, and received multiple awards at different festivals across the world since being ready for its theatrical release in 2019. Read: ‘Shonibar Bikel’ gets censor clearance on a Saturday afternoon Despite the filmmaker claiming several times that the film was fictionalised based on the incident and not direct documentation of the event, Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud previously stated that the Bangladesh Film Censor Board did not grant the film its censorship as the board's members at the time considered a number of factors, including the internal security and external reputation of the nation. He also stated that the film did not properly highlight the contribution of members of the police, RAB and army during the 2016 Holy Artisan attack. “Unfortunately, it has been banned in Bangladesh on the grounds it could “damage the country’s reputation” and incite religious hatred. The only thing this Bangladesh-Germany co-prod could do to the country’s reputation is improving it, and its plea for religious tolerance is nothing short of touching. While the body of the film is shot in a single, excited take, it opens with a series of shots emphasizing the deceptive stillness of Dhaka on a lazy Saturday morning,” The Hollywood Reporter reviewed the film in May 2019. Although Farooki and Shonibar Bikel continued fighting for its approval and censor certificate, Bollywood, in the meantime, moved forward with the movie ‘Faraaz’. The Hansal Mehta directorial is based on the same incident and is scheduled to have its theatres release in India on February 3, and the film narrates a more direct reflection of the actual event than ‘Shonibar Bikel’, many audiences and film observers opined after the release of its theatrical trailer. Read: Holey Artisan victim's mother vows to fight release of Bollywood film on tragedy When Shonibar Bikel's clearance was not granted before ‘Faraaz’, Farooki and numerous other acclaimed and renowned artists, cultural personalities and filmmakers expressed dissatisfaction with the media and demanded justice for the film. The filmmaker and associates raised their united voice in two major events in the past year against the ‘unnecessary censorship’ and injustice against the film - first at a unique press conference on August titled “Golpo Bolar Swadhinata Chai” at the Dhaka Reporters Unity in the capital, and also at the maiden edition of the daylong summit on December 30 titled ‘FAB Fest 2022’, organised by Film Alliance Bangladesh, a think-tank comprising stakeholders in the film industry and media professionals of the country. Finally, when the release date of ‘Faraaz’ was announced and the trailer of the film got released on the T-Series YouTube channel last week, a united outrage cast over the social media platforms and many urged the censor board to rewatch and review the decision. Read More: Holey Artisan Victim Faraaz's Heroism is Now on the Silver Screen The members of the appeal board - consisting of actress and lawmaker Suborna Mustafa, Jatiya Press Club general secretary and former censor board vice chairman Shyamal Dutta, eminent silver screen actress Sucharita and former Additional Secretary Nurul Karim, saw the film on Saturday, before announcing that there are now no obligations to theatrically release the film. According to Shyamal Dutta, since the film is not an exact adaptation of the events of Holey Artisan, there is no obstacle to its release. There is no need to add or modify any scenes; the events of this film have nothing to do with the events that took place in Holey Artisan. This is not a direct depiction of the events of Holy Artisan, and the appeal board suggested the director make such a declaration before realising the film. “How does it feel to watch everyone else sprint while you remain still? I felt so useless for a very long time! Although I have no idea how it appears from the outside - but I can tell from the inside, there are no lonely people like artists. The feeling that engulfed me, along with my own worthlessness on ‘Shonibar Bikel’ for the past four years, was loneliness,” Farooki said, as his last theatrical work was the late Indian actor Irrfan Khan starrer 2017 film ‘Doob’ (No Bed of Roses), which was the Bangladeshi entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards. Read More: Foreign envoys remember those killed in Holey Artisan attack Finally relieved with the clearance, Farooki told UNB: “I want to convey my gratitude to the Film Alliance of Bangladesh (FAB) alongside my colleagues and friends from the filmmaking community and most importantly, our audiences. Many people from different sectors of our society raised their voices for the film, and I am immensely grateful to all of them.” “To receive the film censor board's approval for ‘Shonibar Bikel’ - I had to wait four long years. I sincerely hope that no other filmmaker goes through something similar. The appeal board has yet to send us a formal letter regarding the censorship. We will complete all necessary procedures, include a disclaimer, and submit the letter after receiving it. We want the movie to be out on February 3 or sooner," Farooki said. Read More: Govt satisfied with Holey Artisan attack verdict: Law Minister.

Acclaimed filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farooki's first international language film “No Land’s Man” won the coveted Prix du Public (fiction film audience) award at the 28th Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema in France on Tuesday. Farooki shared the news on his Facebook page on Wednesday from France where he was attending the screening of his film and the award ceremony. “No Land’s Man has been my most special! Tonight this special film won Prix du Public at Vesoul film festival. This award is for my big fat team from three continents! Love you all! Can’t wait for the audience to see the film. Hopefully soon!,” Farooki wrote. The first screening of “No Land’s Man” was held at this festival last Saturday. However, Farooki could join the second screening on Sunday. He also took part in a live Q&A session after the screening. The central theme of the film is circulated around the misery of a third-world human being's existential crisis in different settings.  Acclaimed Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays the lead role in the film, alongside popular Bangladeshi singer-actor Tahsan Khan, the debutant Megan Mitchell from Australia, and Isha Chopra, Vikram Kochhar and Kiran Khoje from India. Read: Curtain rises on ‘Coke Studio Bangla’ with Arnob in all-important producer's seat The joint venture by the US company Dialectic and Bangladesh's Chabial, in association with India's Magic If Films, Bangladesh's Sun Music & Motion Pictures, and Bongo BD, “No Land’s Man” has also teamed up with the Oscar-BAFTA-Grammy-famed world-famous Indian composer AR Rahman for its music production. Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, Anjan Chowdhury, Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Shrihari Sathe, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, A R Rahman, and Faridur Reza Sagar are the executive producers of the film. 'No Land's Man' is the second film of Farooki's identity trilogy, with 'Shonibar Bikel' (Saturday Afternoon) being the first one. Alongside “No Land’s Man,” the festival’s fiction film audience award was also shared by Reza Dormishian’s Iranian film “No Choice”. The 2022 Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema began on February 2 and concluded on February 8.  Zhang Lu’s “Yanagawa” (China) won the Golden Cyclo, the festival’s top prize awarded by the international jury, while South Korean filmmaker Hong Sung-Eun's “Aloners” won the international jury prize and the Netpac jury award.

Noted filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farooki has tested positive for Covid-19. The acclaimed filmmaker confirmed the matter sharing the news on his official Facebook profile. "Positive! Even after following all safety measures strictly! So everyone please take care and keep your spirit high!," Farooki wrote Saturday noon. According to Farooki's wife and actress Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Farooki is currently staying at home and doing well. READ: “Relieved from a four-year-long depressing hiatus”: Mostofa Sarwar Farooki The couple underwent Covid test on Friday. On July 26, Farooki took the first doze of vaccine, which he confirmed on social media through sharing pictures. After four long years of absence on silver screen and drama productions, Farooki made a monumental comeback with his maiden web series ‘Ladies & Gentlemen’ on July 9. The series is produced and being broadcasted on ZEE5 Global, the largest OTT platform for South Asian content. READ: Farooki's 'Doob' most viewed content on Netflix from Bangladesh Starring Tasnia Farin and veteran actor Afzal Hossain in the lead roles alongside an ensemble cast featuring Mostofa Monwar, Hasan Masud, Partha Barua, Iresh Zaker and Mamunur Rashid among others, the eight-episode series garnered highly positive reactions on social media platforms regarding the aesthetic of the content, based on contemporary social circumstances.

Mostofa Sarwar Farooki's last international film "Doob" (No Bed of Roses) has become the most viewed content from Bangladesh on popular streaming platform Netflix.